Father God Speaking to My Heart

Tag Archives: Jesus

I remember way back in 1964 during Social Studies class we figured out what age we kids would be in the year 2000. That seemed like a Sci-fi year to all of us as it was so very far in the future. We did essays on what we thought the world would be like in the year we would turned 50 years old. Despite the fact that all of us thought 50 was an ancient age, and it was hard for us to believe we would ever be “that old,” we began to imagine and dream what it would be like. Most of us thought it would be like the “Jetsons” cartoon on television replete with spaceship like cars, robots serving us, anti-gravity belts, instant food cooking, and a dog name Astro.

Now, we are all well past that 2000 year marker. While I cannot speak for my classmates, who could be inventors or scientists making stunning Sci-fi gizmos, I don’t have an anti-gravity car, nor can I transport to Hawaii in 5 minutes like Judy Jetson did for a beach party. But, we do have communicators (cell phones), nearly instant cooking (microwave ovens), video calling and a bunch of other Jetsons-like stuff. Too bad the robots haven’t progressed past vacuuming the floor as far as serving us at home, but they are in every industry so even that has come true.

Our imaginations as a generation of kids took us toward those inventions and technologies and many of them were created. It’s all pretty impressive what humankind has done and taken all the credit for. Yes, I was being a little critical because, by and large, we have left out of the picture a very important component; the central reason we have been blessed with all these creature comforts. Left out by most folks has been the divine inspiration and blessings of the Lord God. There has been a gross lack of spiritual connection to the One giving all these good things to humankind. That Father God would be involved in inspiring invention and technology doesn’t seem to fully compute with our culture. Nonetheless, the Word of God says in James 1:17 “All good things come down from the Father of Lights above.” Continue reading →

Today I have been overtaken by the Lord’s heart regarding the oblivious condition of the church toward evil. Every store I go to I am greeted by ghouls, skeletons, vampires, and grotesque masks and costumes along with ghosts and ugly jack-o-lanterns. To me it is a blight and my soul is vexed over this tribute to evil. But, sadly, I have discovered that much of the church goes about its day oblivious, or worse, they are preparing to celebrate evil right along with the world on October 31st.

My concern got me wondering why Halloween is a day to celebrate evil and that got me researching. I found out a lot of historic things about it having roots in pagan ceremony and superstition, but what really grabbed me a couple of years ago was the revelation that it is the night Martin Luther posted his theses on the church door for all to read. It was on October 31st 1517 that the wickedness of the then current religious order was exposed and the truth of the Word of God was restored to the people. The Reformation was birthed 500 years ago this Month! Oh, how the devil hated that then and how he hates it now! He has been seeking revenge ever since, successfully perverting a night, then a day, and now we deal with an entire month or more of disgusting evil displayed everywhere we go. And sadly, he has succeeded in desensitizing a huge portion of the church to the evil, and has successfully managed to get many of them to celebrate the evil and not the Reformation. (Read my article about this scheme of our enemy at: Should we Celebrate October 31st?)

It’s not clear how the church became so oblivious to evil. Some how, somewhere along the line, the church leaders decided to ignore Halloween occult practices, incorporate them as a draw, condone them openly and/or adopt them. That didn’t make any of it less evil, it just became less obvious as it hid behind the skirts of the church. People going to church were taught to accept it because their leaders did.

The result is that few church leaders in the USA now-a-days preach against the evils of it. But, I love God’s kids too much to let the year go by without saying something that may penetrate the lies and encourage even one person to step away from the wickedness of Halloween.

Though you may be one that thinks I am old fashioned or overreacting, I am not moved by your protests, so don’t bother to write. Nor will I accept or acknowledge excuses that “it is all in fun” or “it’s all make believe” or “we do it for the kids.” None of that washes and I won’t respond to those comments either. Why am I so stubborn on this? Two reasons: First and foremost, the word of God says to reject evil, even the appearance of it. To me the evil of Halloween has been and is quite obvious.

Here are just a couple of verses, out of many that are in the Word of God, telling us to turn away from evil things like Halloween and do good instead:

Amos 5:14 – 15 (NRSV) Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

3 John 1:11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.

1 Peter 2:15 – 16 (NRSV) For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil.

Secondly, I have first hand knowledge of the evils of the occult and its supposedly innocent fun beginnings “for the kids.” My Lord Jesus delivered me out of that trap in 1990. Celebrating Halloween as a child, led me to fascination with the occult. Living my life in occult New Age practices for over 20 years as an adult nearly killed me. I will never be silent regarding the dangers to both children and adults of playing around with demonic things, including Halloween, because I personally KNOW what can happen and I don’t want it to happen to you or your children!

You can read my testimony on cherylbirchministries.com . You can also view my testimony that was recorded a couple of years ago. I spoke regarding the need to step out of evil contrasting with a Halloween decorated set. View it by clicking Here.

So, what if this article or my testimony has touched your heart and you are ready to step away from Halloween? How does one combat this evil? Answer: Renounce it. Repent for entertaining it and participating in it. Receive forgiveness and determine to step into GOOD! Evil is overcome by good!

Then, this time of year, start celebrating the Reformation! Have a Reformation Party for the kids. Sure candy is great and lots of treats. Cute, not evil, costumes add to the festivities. Celebrate with great joy! Have fun! Our God loves a good party that honors Him! When folks say “Happy Halloween” reply with “Happy Reformation Day!” When folks ask if you celebrating October 31st answer: Yes! I celebrate the Reformation every year.

Does that work? Yup! Been doing it for years and the conversations are astounding. The presence of God is remarkable. People ask questions! What is the Reformation? It opens doors to telling people it’s a celebration of the word of God or the Bible. That opens up a door to tell them about Jesus.

In this, the 500th year of God restoring His Word to us, let’s honor HIM on October 31st and give the devil a GOOD kick in his back side!

I receive a couple of emails/texts with scriptures each morning for inspiration and meditation. Maybe you do as well? This morning it struck me as I read the messages that both scriptures from two completely different sources had the word sincere or sincerity in them. Have you ever had a word seem to pop off the page when you read the Bible and you KNOW there is something special Holy Spirit is trying to highlight? That is the experience I had when I read these verses. While the revelation of the two scriptures could be taken different directions, it is sincerity and being sincere that is the message of the day, in fact, Holy Spirit is impressing upon me that it is a message for the days we are navigating right now.

So, what scripture verses did I receive? Here they are!

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, Philippians 1:9-10NKJV

This verse features the Greek word Heilikrines = pure, sincere, unsullied; found to be pure when opened and examined in the sunlight

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.Hebrews 11:6 NLT

Two sides to sincerity are presented by these words. Both are vitally, even desperately, needed at this juncture in time. Holy Spirit is downloading to me right now that if we are to move forward and step into the Father’s glorious plans for the USA (read Golden Grain of the Threshing Floor ) and, if we want to be participators in His worldwide reformation (read Beginning of a Light Yoke Era and The Other Side of the Door), we must be both a sincere person (Heilikrines) and sincerely (Ekzeteo) seek HIM and HIS ways.

That prompted in me to begin questioning my own state of being much like David asked to be searched for any wicked way in him (Psalm 139:23). The question came to me: Am I sincerely sincere and do I walk in sincere sincerity? To me that meant: Am I the real deal, Lord? Can you examine me in the sunlight? Yes, I am washed by the blood of Jesus, but have I dirtied my garments with no repentance? Am I seeking after You because I crave more intimacy with YOU; because I require YOUR presence. Do I sincerely investigate YOUR ways or do I walk in the presumption of my own desires? (Read Wisdom Beginnings)

These are keenly important questions the body of Christ needs to ask themselves as a precursor to being called forth as powerful Demonstrators of Jesus’ love in our world. Those who will “pay the price” of taking up their cross, sincerely seeking Him and following after Him WILL be rewarded! They will become amazing reflections of HIM and walk in the “greater works” promised in John 14:12. However, Holy Spirit is speaking to my heart right now: Know this! God’s power and the purity of His love cannot flow freely through an insincere vessel that is living a life seeking after Him periodically, or never doing so, or being stuck in the rote motions of a religious life.

It is time for MORE, for the amazing MORE that our loving Father wishes to pour out through us to those who do not know Him! And, we are being urged to enter our highest call! We cannot be perfect this side of heaven, but we can walk in sincere sincerity. Our Father in heaven can do a lot with that!

For the past week Holy Spirit has been reminding me of revelation He gave me years ago about our Noema – that is the Greek word used in the Bible to describe how we perceive things. It is a complex combination of what are the facts and what we feel about those facts. Interestingly, how we feel about the facts can outweigh those facts. Sounds, smells or fragrances, good and bad memories, mindsets, habits, and imagination form an oleo that becomes our truth about a situation, our lives, or other people. Once we believe something is true we begin to live our life according to it – whether it is really true or not.

Many in the body of Christ have or are about to step through a wide open door into a new season of walking with the Lord and being demonstrators of who He is. On the Other Side of the Door is increased glory on earth and the Beginning of Signs. We will be freer than ever as we will have cleansed hearts and minds. We will have let go of heavy burdens at the feet of Jesus. We have learned how persevere, to remain humble, to rest in Him and we will have received His light yoke in exchange for our busy work, work, work religious attitudes. (Read Beginning of a Light Yoke Era) The first days on the other side of the door flowing in glory will be so full of JOY! There is always celebration when burdens are gone and we are released into a new season. The people of the world will be drawn to what they see in us. The harvest will increase as we share our joy in Jesus! We will be living Psalm 126.

And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. 2 John 1:5-6

In my walk with our Lord I have found over and over again that every ending means God has developed in me a greater capacity to keep His commandment to love one another as He has loved us. (John 15:12) This increased capacity to love as He loves creates a new beginning and He opens new doors for me to walk through in order that I may demonstrate His love in fresh new ways. The hard part of this process is always the ending of a season, especially if that season has been the center of my life. The closing of a door can be confusing if it is something I had come to rely upon or had thought I would be part of forever. It can be painful as closing doors always means I have to let go of something whether its my opinions, habits, status and position, financial, or even people. Often the new door is not clear and I have needed to let the old door close in obedience following the leading of Holy Spirit without knowing exactly where I am going or why.

In this process of beginning, for I am determined to look at each ending situation no matter how painful as an exciting new chapter in my life, Continue reading →

The Lord God in His infinite wisdom is ending some things right now. This is a world wide event affecting entire nations and also regions, cities, and individuals like you and me. Endings can be a bit disconcerting, confusing and sometimes down right scary. This is especially so when it is all going on at one time. It’s hard to remain at peace or understand our role when we are seemingly in constant crisis or crisis is constantly happening around us.

How vital it is right now that we, the body of Christ, get a handle on what is going on from heaven’s perspective! The last two postings I made were reminders that God is in charge, He loves us, He has chosen us and that He has had a grand wonderful plan from the very beginning. Secondly, its important to constantly remember that we are still in a time of GRACE and new beginnings are available daily. We not in a time of judgement and wrath, but we are in a time of intense battle and world-wide spiritual struggle for nations (for the souls of the world). It’s ugly out there, not because God is pouring out judgement and wrath, but because the demonic forces are trying to kill as many people as possible to prevent them from ever knowing Christ Jesus as Savior. It’s even uglier because so many people flowing in the evil of their own hearts and are coming into agreement with the demonic plan to wipe out all that God created in the beginning and said was good, especially humankind.

How exciting to be part of the wondrous things our God is doing in the world! We are headed rapidly to the grandest new beginning of all time when He recreates the earth and returns it fully to a reflection of His glory. In the mean time, I am learning from my times with Holy Spirit, praying and studying His Word, that we, the body of Christ, need a refresher course regarding “the beginnings” we have already received. In fact, too many of us are focused right now on the end of our beginnings instead of the amazing times in which we live. Fear is overtaking many in the church as they look at the apparent growing darkness in the world and wonder if they will survive the bad things going on and/or those situations described in Revelations. Some are into debating how much suffering and wrath God will pour out and how long they will go through the punishment before Jesus’ return. And, others are totally focused on the rapture of the church and hiding out praying He will get them out of here as Paul says: “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17)